Got a Recipe for South Indian Sambar?

SitaParityaga

Some of us love it, some of us hate it (NickH and IceT )

I've been back about a month, and I'm having some real cravings for sambar...the kind I really like, which I have only had in Kerala and Tamil Nadu...nice and thick, spicey, full of those little onions and other veggies.

I've done a search on IM (where I found out there are actually people who hate the stuff!) and also the internet....but keep finding recipes that have ingredients in them, such as "drumsticks", which I have no clue what it is....or include instructions that use pressure cookers (which I don't have and find a little scarey to think of using....they look potentially explosive to me)

Anyone care to share their recipe for my beloved sambar? And what is a "drumstick"

machadinha

The drumsticks have been brought up before. While I thought they mean chicken legs, they seem to be a vegetable, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drumstick_%28vegetable%29 .

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ladyvetphd

Hi Here is a recipe for Sambhar.
1 cup tuvar dal.
2.5 cups water
wash the dal and add water and keep it on medium flame. Add a pinch of turmeric and 2 tsp oil. let the dal cook for some time like 20 minutes, keep stirring in between. Meanwhile soak some tamarind the size of a small lemon in some warm water. (youc an use the dal water also.(or use ready made tamarind pulp).
Cut vegetable of your choice and wash them and when the dal is half cooked add the vegetables and salt (according to taste) and sambhar powder (2 tblsp or less) and let it simmer on low flame, adjust water quantity as desired (if you want a thick sambhar use less water and if you want a thin sambhar add more water)
Then add the tamarind. If you are using the soak method, squeeze out the tamarind juice and discard the fruit. The tamrind juice is added to the sambhar, let it simmer for another 15 minutes. It will attain the right consistency and will be well mixed with the vegetables. Then season it with mustard seeds, curry leaves, youc an also add coriander leaves as garnish and some grated fresh coconut.

This is the recipe if you have ready made Sambhar powder. If you want to make sambhar masala from scratch I will tell you how
when I have more time.

BTW drum sticks are long green firm stick like vegetables that grow on a tall tree. Inside the stick is the pulp, which absorbs the flavors of the cooking medium.

Let me know how it went

SitaParityaga

Thanks ladyvetphd + machadinha....I will let you know how it goes, as I am going to make a big pot of sambar this weekend!

Here in the San Francisco Bay area, there are many Indian restaurants. Of course, the sambar is never quite as good as it is in India. I'm going to try and find the "drumsticks" in our local Indian grocery stores...they must exist around here: whenever I have it at a restaraunt, I find them in there (now that I know what they are!) The wikipedia link machadinha provided was very interesting.

What other vegetables do you add to it? I think I remember having some carrots..but what else would you add?

ladyvetphd

All kinds of vegetables can be used. While onions and potatoes are commonly used, Red pumpkin, white pumpkin, cabbage,
egg plants and red leafy vegetables etc all can be used.

Nattusbs

I add

Carrots
Daikon (called Mooli in Indian stores - thick white)
Onions - but big chunks, not slices - eg, cut each large onions into 8 equal pieces).
Cauliflowers - medium size chunks
Egg plant - good size pieces

Ofcourse, do not add cauliflower and egglant in the same sambhar - make them separately on different days for variety.

More later - I am drooling

Cheers

Nattusbs

PS: every south indan Mom makes the bet sambhar - mine does!

SitaParityaga

Now we're getting down! The more South Indian Moms the better!

About those onions....some recipes I've seen say (for us poor folks out of India) to use shallots as a substitute.

Do they work? Are they like the REAL thing?

Digital Drifter

Yes use shallots. The sambhar will smell heavenly. Some fry it a little(just covered with a thin layer of oil) & then throw it in while others drop the raw shallows into sambhar.

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robotvoice

???
You must be living in the wrong part of the bay area. I know a place where the sambar is like heaven.

SitaParityaga

robotvoice....Where should I go?

I'm in the East Bay....to me, all the good food is down the penninsula.

I've had "OK" sambar at Viks in Berkeley, but thats it!

kalyani68

I really liked the sambar at Saravana Bhavan in/near San Jose.

**********************

In the USA, fresh drumsticks can be hard to find.
They are also available frozen. The package we have in our freezer right now is labeled "saragawa". I don't know what language that term is from but the picture on the front tells all I need to know!

If you have not eaten drumsticks before, here's how.
Once cooked, you have to split them open, grasp one between your teeth and pull, scraping out the insides with your teeth. Discard the tough outer parts. Yum!

SitaParityaga

Saravana Bhavan is THE BEST of the Bay Area! Its about an hour drive from my house, and I usually get over there about once a month.

I will look for some frozen packages of saragawa this weekend. Never knew how to eat those woody drumsticks...but they always seem to appear in the more tasty sambars

robotvoice

sorry, i'm in the peninsula. But if you do make it down this way, Madras cafe in sunnyvale is definitely the Best. saravana bhava doesn't even come close.

etin

Try these links... and search that site for more south indian recipe

http://www.pachakam.com/recipe.asp?id=904
http://www.pachakam.com/recipe.asp?id=2509

palerider

Sorry, I'm a farmer. Drumstick is a leguminous tree, a bean tree to dumb it down a bit. The outer skin stays tough, and the inner part is short of squishy, but it has a beany taste. You can substitute green beans.
The vegie I found really hard to cop is White Pumpkin.
A bit like a large tasteless radish crossed with a turnip.
Just my observ.
Sambhar powder is the base for the taste. I made my own, but it's available in all Indian stores, in your town, I would think. All the rest is up to you.
I bought a great little book called 200 south Indian lunch recipes.
By the continentally famous Mrs Bandrinath.
She's a whizz, all recipes were in English , Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. I've been getting into the food since I got back. The books cost a dollar or so.

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